Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
THE MACHINE
This is a statement of
love and affection...
Once upon a time I got
in contact to the stoner family and discovered some of the greatest music I
ever heard. Coming from late sixties and seventies rock, being pushed by bands
like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, but most of all, of course, there
was the spirit of Jimi Hendrix that has influenced my musical taste over so
many years. So in 2010 I discovered a little power trio from Rotterdam, called
The Machine, and I lost my heart from the first second I heard that fantastic
kind of music. It was the time when the band started to prepare for their third
album, simply called „Drie“. Yes, indeed, this is the third CD of the band.
They started in 2007 with a self-release named „The Shadow Of The Machine“,
which obvious seem to be unknown to many people. It never released as a vinyl
and even the band today loughs a bit about their first tries I can tell you it
is worth to listen to every minute of that songs.
How can I describe the
style of The Machine easily? Imagine the music of desert rock collides on an
astral path with the genius of Jimi Hendrix´ guitar, and then you will be close
to The Machine. Wonderful inspirited guitar workout, rising up some of the
coolest improvisations in modern times the licks will carry you into your
personal nirvana, totally fired by the deepest and hardest rhythms of thick strings
and powerful drumming. A journey through times of Rock´n Roll, taking its roots
in the first and greatest period of our culture and develop it into a modern
way, that is timeless, full of passion and fun. So it´s not a surprise, that we
can tell The Machine a fantastic live band. On stage they will show you their
emotions in a way that can really hypnotize you. Every time I saw them
performing it was pretty dangerous for my back and neck, but this music has
ever fulfilled every cell of my being and it will bring my bones to move, even
if I want or not.
First time I met The
Machine live in Holland, I was thinking of much older people, only knowing
their second album „Solar Corona“ on CD, so I was totally surprised when I
realized that all of them were so young that they could be my sons. Such young
guys that make such great music that can transfer old buddies like me into the
heaven of rock? Yes, they can!
It was a kind of
religious feeling when they started their set with „First Unique Prime“, my
absolutely dearest song of the band and one of the four or five greatest pieces
of music I heard in the last twenty years. Shivers, showers and a lot of
bouncing up and down floated through my body and brain, a totally symbiosis
between the music and my own impressions. Yeah, I think that´s exactly the
reason why I love that band so much.
David Eering on guitar
and vocals, Hans van Heemst on bass and Davy Boogaard on drums gives the term
power trio back its deepest meaning. It´s pure energy and power which they can
create on stage, but every time in a native, nice and modesty way, they will
win your heart with their pure music, not an overloaded show.
Looking back to the
releases of the band you can follow their musical development. In early times
the songs could be called a complete picture of the crazy jams they produce on
stage. Outracing, long improvisations started their career and led into second
album, which was the first official release on Nasoni Records, „Solar Corona“
and culminated in fantastic „Drie“, now on Elektrohasch. Step by step the songs
got a bit more structure, but the greatest step for the band was the way to
album four, named „Calmer Than You Are“. This phrase you should know from
cinema, yeah: „I´m calmer than you are“, once said Walter Sobchak to The Dude
in one of the funniest movies of all time, the Coen Brothers “The Big Lebowski”,
a movie that especially David loves very much. So the title is a kind of homage
to a great movie, something you can find also in the history of my other
deepest loved band, Monkey3.
But let´s have a look
back to „First Unique Prime“ from Drie. Surely this song is perhaps the best
example for fantastic improvisations and spontaneous composing. But you would
simplify that wonderful song too much, if you only had a look on the great
jamming parts. This 18 minutes monster is an absolute clever combination of
styles, starting with some of the best psychedelic sounds the band ever
produced and taking time to let the music breathe. Then it gets its break by
fantastic and stone hard stoner riffs and licks, culminating in a kind of blues-rock
inferno. This song was born really in a jam, the band once told me. Hans
started a riff which remembered on a song of The Sword and the band followed
that way. The main theme and most of the entire outracing end, David thought
back, were in his head for a longer time, only waiting to become set free. The
result is a song that can show you the way into a better world, giving you strength
and hope, a song that takes you away.
As named in „Calmer
Than You Are“ the band first time went over to more structured songs. My
favorite from this album is „Sphere (Or Kneiter)“, a fantastic musical
adventure with deep psychedelic workouts, also one of the greatest live
experiences of the band.
Last work on vinyl and
silver rounding was the split album with their mates from „Sungrazer“, also
from Holland and no longer existing (sad, sad...), where the band showed some
of the deepest riffs in their history, most of all in „Awe“, but also created a
very short, but heavy punk song.
I think, fun and humor
is a basic fact in the music of The Machine. Once I saw them in Cologne, and
they played one of their totally thrilling jams, when David suddenly started
the theme of „Daddy Cool“, old pop song from the seventies. The jam
incidentally started with Jimi´s „Machine Gun“, so I think there is only one
band on planet earth, that is able to combine Jimi Hendrix with Bonny M. in a
way, where you can say: Yes, that fits! Crazy and funny, but with deepest
empathy and devotion to the music.
The Machine has rocked
a lot of stages, playing great festivals as Roadburn, Desertfest and Burg
Herzberg. They have a strong fan community and the concerts of The Machine will
always show you the deep respect of all band members to the music, they will
ever do their best to satisfy the audience with energetic and powerful music.
So where ever you get a chance to watch them live, just take it and have a
great time. Yeah, and the guys are always prepared to have a lot of fun, so get
in touch and find it out yourself.
The Machine is:
David Eering – Guitar
and Vocals
Hans van Heemst – Bass
Guitar
Albums:
The Shadow Of The
Machine – Produced by themselves
Solar Corona – Nasoni
Records
Drie – Elektrohasch
Calmer Than You Are –
Elektrohasch
Split With Sungrazer -
Elektrohasch
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Alterna-Sounds-Festival
Alterna-Sounds-Festival, Münster 05.04.2014
World can be great and far, even everything seems to be so near. What would you call it, when an old rocker from the Ruhr area goes to Westphalia just to visit his favorite bands from Bavaria and Switzerland and later talks about it on Stoner Rock Austria – that´s desert rock feeling made in Europe. One evening, cruising through the orbit of Monkey3, just to continue your journey into universe with Colour Haze is a privilege of first class happening. And somehow this has its special connection to the Lake On Fire festival, because the headliners from last year and the upcoming event shared that stage at Münster.
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| Alterna Sounds Festival was located at the amazing Sputnik hall, a cool location which reminded me a bit on Astra Kulturhaus Berlin. The event was created for two stages and five bands. From Münster and the surround came Wooly Antshake and Mindreader and as special guest from Rostock our old buddies Coogans Bluff took part on this night (I saw them several times) and remember one Friday evening, shivering together with guitarist Willi for our soccer teams (Rostock and Duisburg) playing just before concert. But this evening now, I had only a little time, so I concentrated on the two headliners, I´m sorry that I can´t talk about the other bands this time. |
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| MONKEY3 (C) Michael Since I first time heard a song called “Jack” I lost my heart to the music of Monkey3. Meanwhile I visited them a lot of times live on stage and so it was great joy to meet the band again. As Boris told me later they had just arrived from Lausanne, only to perform this one event – great enthusiasm I would say! |
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| MONKEY3 - (C) Michael I was very excited waiting for one of my all-time favorite songs which is of course "Icarus". And after the announcement was done, the keys in the background started muttering the intro to that epic song. The four guys took the stage, first time for me to see Kevin, the new bass player and after Walters starting shots Boris took the lead and led us to the stars with his wonderful clear and emotional licks, floating in elegance over the powerful sound carpet of Guillaumes keys. I will not explain my complete emotions about this unbelievable song which has to do with some happenings last year, but I never have heard a piece of music that produces so much positive energy and emotion, a song about enthusiasm and the might of human dreams and wishes. It was my cure after a hard time, the hand of Gods of Rock´n Roll that was offered to me. Yeah, somehow a religious experience. So you may imagine that I banned myself taking photos during this magic song, there is no time for anything, when I listen to "Icarus". The set was mainly oriented on the current album “The 5. Sun”, perhaps the most compact and powerful album in the band´s history. And the cool bass intro to “Jack” sounded great as ever, Kevin has taken his part in the band as if he had never done anything others. So in the end it was a wonderful concert of world´s greatest instrumental rockers, just another mosaic stone in the picture of my deep adoration to this band. |
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| MONKEY3 - (C) Michael So coming back from the planet of the apes (although the pictures in the background during the concert were influenced by Kubrick´s 2001, of course) it wasn´t easy to calm down and there is only one band, I think, that I was able to inhale after Monkey3 – that´s for sure Colour Haze! |
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| MONKEY3 - (C) Michael |
In times of RTL and Bild newspaper you should be careful with the word cult. In our society this term is often used for strange things I will never understand. But if cult comes from class and capability then Colour Haze deserves it to be cult. In the European underground scene this band is surely the most admired trio, fantastic solo musicians who founded an origin and authentic style, that a complete generation of musicians like to imitate. Philipp, who plays the fat strings harder than anyone other, a sound, that kicks your ass like thunder and lightning; Manni, who rushes over the skins like a wizard, with energy that never seem to stop; and of course Stefan, who plays the guitar in a way only Stefan does, a style that would make old Jimi smile on his cloud when he passes by. And together they change between fascinating psychedelic workouts and the hardest riffs in the universe. Thanks again to Gods of R´n R that they have put them three together.
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| COLOUR HAZE (C) Michael |
We got a classic set with the bands most played live acts, connected with two completely new songs. Yeah, and the rumors are right, Stefan confirmed that the band is working on a new album, wonderful outlook for future. “Aquamaria” and “Moon” were a traditional start of a Colour Haze concert, but too late I noticed that I got problems with my camera, so I had to do a lot of shots at the end of the concert. But similar to Monkey3 there is a song during which I will never put photos, that is “Transformation” from latest album “She Said”. This epic is an energy fountain of first class. Coming from a smooth and leisurely rhythm Stefan develops a solo, that increases its intensity more and more to an ecstatic feeling, a float of optimistic and positive electricity, that lead you to outer worlds but also to the best ghosts into yourself. This song sets you free, it´s hypnotic in best way.
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| COLOUR HAZE (C) Michael |
Certainly “Peace, Brothers And Sisters” was also a main part of the evening with a particularly virtuosic solo of Stefan. And the new stuff have taken all my senses and anticipation to the new album, whenever it will release.
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| COLOUR HAZE (C) Michael The audience was highly satisfied, same as for Monkey3, when they got “Love” and “Temple” in the end. And although the band members had some problems with illness the days before they gave us an encore with “Get It On”. |
All visitors of Lake On Fire 2014 can feel happy to see this great band performing live, one of the biggest highlights of the year. And Stefan has promised to give us an interview for Stoner Rock Austria just before the festival, so let us be curious for what he will tell us. For all who can´t wait until that event in summer, there is Desertfest coming up at last weekend of April in Berlin with a fantastic line-up, three days of Stoner, Doom and Hardrock, I´m looking forward to that.
by Michael
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